Day Two (7/14/2020) Bronco Badlands 4dr reservation holder here. I was waiting for years for the Bronco to be released as I was eyeing a truck to replace my overworked, lifted, Impreza I was taking on overland camping trips. Grew up in a Ford family and just assumed it wasn't if, but when with a new Bronco purchase.
Due to some life events; marriage, house, child, the Bronco has been back-burnered, and my reservations were cancelled by Ford but this gave me time to rethink what I want and what OEM I'm going to trust buying a new car with these days. I never was too excited about the 2.3 & 2.7 on the Bronco. I get it, they aren't putting an 8 cyl in these, but I don't know, the powerplant options just always nagged me as kinda uninspiring. They put out good power for their size with respectable fuel mileage considering the weight, shape, and usage case of the Bronco (not to mention the 4.7 ratio & 35s on the Sasquatch) but I just wasn't very enthusiastic considering putting down a new-car premium on the Bronco w/ that engine. Seeing the V8 isn't realistic, I would've really liked to have seen some kind of call-back to the inline-6 as a powerplant on these - I've had many 300 inline-6s in my 78-79 F150s and loved them. Of course, a modern I-6 would have to be much smaller but would have loved some torque-y tractor motor on the Bronco - an Ecoboost version would've been fine for me. The other option I would've liked to see - a Hybrid. Not so much for the fuel mileage, though that is certainly gravy, but the added utility of having a 2k+ inverter in the back to run any gear that I would need off-grid. That kind of power available just gives me the value non-Hybrid power plants can't without bringing power banks or solar.
Enter Land Cruiser, or Toyota in general (as I'm considering an iForce Max 4Runner whenever that's revealed as well). I love the Hybrid idea and there looks to be a lot of attractive standard equipment on the LCs but my decision is really starting to come down on long-term reliability and what OEM I trust most with a complex, force-inducted powerplant. At this moment, it's Toyota so I think that's one of the main reasons I'm being swayed.
As for the Bronco, there's a lot going for it that the LC either doesn't have or we don't know it has:
- The Front Lockers on the Badlands trim/Sasquatch package
- The 4.70 rear-end gearing on the Sasquatch
- Dana axles front & rear (I'm partial to Dana corp for off-road equipment)
- 17" wheels can be fit on the Bronco (looks like the LC, due to the large Brakes, can only fit 18"+)
- The overhead Aux switches (not even sure if the LC will get an Aux Switch option). Ford has been doing the overhead Aux switches for years now and I feel they have the best design in the most models (Bronco, Ranger, F150, F250, F350)
- The line-of-sight location of lockers & sway bar disconnect switches
- The hydraulic swaybar disconnect on Badlands
- I think we're still a bit uncertain about what the LC will have for a Sway Bar disconnect module, correct? From what I can tell, it may be electric and as I recall, I've heard some complaints about the electrical unit on the Rubicons failing. I suppose I'm going to trust Toyota on the decision making here but I really liked the idea of the hydraulic unit on the Bronco.
- "Trail Turn" function which cuts the rear brake of the side you're turning in order to make tight bends.
- Removable top option - I'll deal w/ the noise.
Truth be told, the LC or 4Runner would definitely make more sense for family trips though.
With all that said, the motor is going to still be a big decider for me - especially when considering dropping a premium on a new vehicle. Also, I recently come to find out that the 2.7 actually has an oil pump belt and not chain or gear driven. Wet belts have been fairly common w/ Ford for a while now, but I really do not like that design change (I believe it was 2018+ where the change was made to a belt on the 2.7). I have a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta w/ both a Timing Belt and Oil Pump Belt. Fortunately, at 150k, my belts were not disintegrating "badly" when I got them changed to the tune of $3k at a local shop I went back-and-forth with for about a month to make sure I was comfortable with their competence. My local Ford dealer was quoting $4k, and I had to remind them that I needed the oil pump belt changed too and the quote shot up to over $6k (lol @ having to remind Ford there's two belts in the engine). I've gotten great service out of that 1.0 but I'm of the opinion that a commuter vehicle (Fiesta) and an enthusiast/hard-use vehicle (Bronco & Land Cruiser) are two very different categories and with the horror stories I've come across of these belts breaking (rare) or deteriorating (more reported) and clogging the oil-pickup have me not trusting them so that's another point toward the Toyota option - assuming they don't use the same wet belt tech. I think the Achillies heel of the wet belts is fuel contamination, so I'd say you're probably in a good place as long as the fuel contamination is kept to a minimum w/ strict oil change intervals (I do 5k/6 mos on everything). I see the belt having some advantages for the OEM - costs, quietness, maybe even fuel mileage due to less friction but I just do not like having something inside the engine that is another thing to worry about, that I can't really monitor until it's possibly too late. I'm not eliminating Bronco quite yet, especially when seeing used car prices come down - feels like the Bronco has especially been dropping. Regardless, I'm waiting for official info on the Land Cruiser and 4Runner to drop for a sure way of comparing these two.
